


life (you only get one of them)

by desitonystark



Series: bollywood but make it gay [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Alternate Universe - Zindagi Na Milengi Dobara, Background Relationships, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Female James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Indian Bucky Barnes, Indian Steve Rogers, Indian Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, M/M, Minor Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, Past Sharon Carter/Bucky Barnes, Past Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desitonystark/pseuds/desitonystark
Summary: In college, Steve, Sam and Bucky made a promise. 3 weeks, 3 activities, 3 boys and the country of Spain. 15 years later, Sam is getting married and its time for them to make good on that promise, to give him the send-off of the century. But between Sam’s conflicted feelings over his engagement, unresolved tension that threatens to break up the trio; Bucky’s secret agenda and Steve’s workaholic tendencies - it definitely promises to be a trip they’ll never forget
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: bollywood but make it gay [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1513703
Comments: 14
Kudos: 48





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [7eternity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/7eternity/gifts).



> my zindagi na milengi dobara au, for eva

“You’re getting married,” Steve says again - breathing through his nose to calm himself down, “It is the most important financial quarter of the year and you want me to take three whole weeks off because you decided, _on a whim_ to get married”

“It wasn’t a - “ there’s a groan on the other line, “look its really complicated but yes, I’m engaged and I’m getting married to Nat and you promised Steve. I haven’t seen you in ages man - I miss you”

Steve pinches the bridge of his nose, “Is Bucky going to be there?”

He hears a snort, “Is Bucky - your bestfriend and my roommate, going to be there? Yeah Steve he’s going to be there”

“I can’t be around him Sam, you know this, you know what went down between us” 

“Funny that,” Sam says, a cutting edge in his voice, “ because I don’t remember you ever telling me what happened between you guys. I just remember you showing up one night at my apartment with your clothes washed out by the rain and staying on my couch for a week. Steve - you owe me”

Steve throws his head back, before opening his laptop and pulling up his calendar, “I’ll see what I can do”

He waits for Sam’s whoop of joy before cutting the line, and starts flipping through his calendar - but he knows he’s going.

Sam’s right, he hadn’t seen him for almost a year, and he even missed the Wilsons’ anniversary dinner. He owed Sam, even if it meant putting up with Bucky for a whole three weeks.

On the other end of the call - Sam waits until the phone clicks to send a pointed look to the man standing next to him.

Bucky whistles lowly, “you got him to agree”

Sam puts the phone down and starts folding his clothes, systematically moving aside various parts of Bucky’s body to spread his clothes out on the bed.

“Despite what you think,” Sam says dryly, “Steve does have a heart”

“Oh I know,” Bucky says around a mouthful of popcorn, “I worked that out when he told me frequently and vividly how I broke it”

At this Sam looks up, levelling Bucky with a glare, “none of that bullshit on the trip Barnes,” Bucky raising his hands in mock surrender does nothing but deepen the glare, “I’m serious. Steve doesn’t know I know for one, and I won’t have you ruin this trip for me with your nonsense. Sharon was 5 years ago and I will kill you myself if you run salt on the wound”

“Hey it’s not going to be me,” Bucky says placating, “I’ve reached out to the guy dozens of times over the years. He’s the one who can’t move past it”

Sam raises an eyebrow and Bucky grumbles, pinching the skin of his neck, “I won’t antagonise him, I promise,” he grimaces, “well - I won’t antagonise him _much”_

“I don’t think I could spend an entire trip with winding Stevie up,” Bucky muses, making grabby hands until Sam hands him a beer bottle, “He always turns so red - its hilarious”

Sam’s face re-arranges itself to something akin to pity, “Its okay to admit you miss him you know. I’m sure he misses you too”

Bucky pointedly dusts his hands onto Sam’s tshirt and presses a sloppy kiss onto his cheek, “why would I miss him when I’ve got you birdbrain?”

“You guys were always closer to each other than you were to me,” Sam holds up the hand not wiping the spit off his cheek to stop Bucky from answering, “hey I’m not jealous or nothing. It’s okay I get it. You guys got on like a house on fire, it really sucks that you stopped talking”

“Yeah well,” Bucky keeps his eyes trained onto the floor, “wasn’t really my decision was it?”

Sam gives up on packing his suitcase to wrap his arms around Bucky, not budging when Bucky starts protesting.

“Who knows,” Sam muses when Bucky stops shifting, “maybe this trip will fix us. Put the trio back together”

Bucky snorts, “If Steve can find space in his life between the stick up in his ass and his workaholic tendencies then sure there’s maybe a chance”

but he also slumps against Sam’s embrace, which tells him all he needs to know about how Bucky really feels without Steve in his life.

/

“So, just to clarify -” Sam says, painfully aware of the way that Natasha is only half paying attention, “my flight is in 3 hours and I’ll be touching down in Costa Brava - where I will be meeting Bucky and Stevie. I won’t have a sim until later in the day so please don’t freak out when I don’t call immediately”

“Remind me again why you can’t fly with Bucky?” Natasha asks, the voice just off plaintive, “it will make me feel so much better if I knew you were flying with someone baby”

“Bucky’s got a later flight,” Sam says, keeping his voice even, “and I don’t want Steve to see both of us enter together - it will set a bad tone for the whole trip”

“Ah yes,” Natasha doesn’t roll her eyes, but its a near thing, “the infamous Steve. I’m not sure how I feel about you road-tripping with a man I’ve never met. At least I know that Bucky gets up to no good - I have no judge of Steve”

“Steve lives in London it isn’t exactly a train ride away. And trust me, Steve won’t be getting us into any trouble. He’s not the type”

She hums noncommittally, looking down at her wrist before offering up her cheek - that Sam obligingly bends down and kisses.

‘Its getting late for your flight,” she says - “and I wouldn’t want to keep you any more than I have already. Plus - I have a bunch of stuff to do, resignation letters to write, a wedding to plan, there’s just so much”

Sam’s almost at the door, but he freezes, “wait - what do you mean resignation letter?”

Natasha cocks her head at him, “we’re getting married baby, of course I’m not going to continue to work. Who’s going to look after the house if we both work? Besides - you make enough for the both of us”

Sam physically tamps down on everything he has to say, mindful of the time, “We’ll talk about this when I get back, but please - hold off on sending any letters until then”

Natasha’s brows furrow, but she nods, and Sam’s shoulder sag.

“Just remember,” he says before he steps into the cab, “your work is the reason we met. I wouldn’t throw it away that quickly”

and before she can say anything - he closes the cab door and settles in for the long drive to the airport.

 _Three weeks in Spain,_ Sam thinks to himself, sending off a quick message to the three musketeers chat to let them know that he’s on his way, _maybe this is exactly what he needs to get a bit of perspective._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter, we meet tony!!
> 
> /
> 
> edit: [isha](https://rxmanoff.tumblr.com/) made me [this absolutely amazing gifset](https://rxmanoff.tumblr.com/post/189981939910/life-you-only-get-one-of-them-part-1-by) to accompany the fic so go give her some love!! (because how amazing is that omg)
> 
> /
> 
> [tumblr saw it first](https://ad1thi.tumblr.com/post/189797262707/life-only-comes-around-once-chapter-1)  
> 


	2. costa brava: part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to the story!! happy holidays to everyone,,this is my very late xmas present to all of you!!
> 
> /
> 
> if you've been paying attention - you'll see that the chapter count has gone up,,because i think i'm going to need more chapters to get this story done. im looking forward to it though, so hopefully you guys enjoy this!!

Costa Brava. The first leg of their journey.

Sam leans against the side of the wall - watching the announcements to see when Steve’s plane was going to land.

The crisp air is a stark contrast to the sweltering heat from Mumbai - and Sam finally feels like he can breathe again.

(a small part of him thinks that has nothing to do with the location and everything to do with the company, but now isn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts)

Hands wrap him from behind, lifting him up the ground and spinning him around.

He turns so that he can hug Steve properly - leaning up and rubbing his fist against Steve’s head until he yelps.

“Its good to see you man,” Sam says - once Steve has pushed himself out of the chokehold that Sam had him in, “you really need to stop disappearing like this”

Steve rubs the back of his neck self consciously, “I’m here now aren’t I? So what’s this I hear that you’re getting married? I swear that you and Natasha just became official”

“About 6 months ago, but I wouldn’t expect you to know that,” Sam jabs an elbow that Steve narrowly misses - and they stand on the side of the road to flag down a cab, “but yeah it was all a bit surreal. Wasn’t too planned but it is what it is right?”

Steve looks at him quizzically - but before he can voice his thoughts, a car skids in front of them and their conversation is lost in favour of dragging up highschool spanish in order to communicate where they need to go.

The ride to the hotel is uneventful, both men content to enjoy the other’s company in silence .

“Hey,” Steve says once they reach the hotel, “I have this super important call that I have to get on - would you mind checking in for me while I grab this real quick?”

“Yeah - sure,” Sam says, but Steve isn’t around to here it - pushing his passport against his chest and making his way across to the nearest table.

“Well, thats a reassuring look for the rest of the trip,” Bucky says from behind him - and Sam throws the first thing in his hand (which turns out to be Steve’s passport) in fright.

“When did you get here bhenchod?” Sam says, throwing an arm around him and wheeling his stuff towards to the reception desk, “I thought you were taking a later flight?”

“I got an upgrade,” Bucky replies, “thought I’d see if I could travel with you and Mr. Business over there. But I overestimated, got here too early”

Bucky grips Sam’s chin, and turns him around to the rest of the reception, waving at a couple of girls who giggle in response, “and let me tell you birdbrain, it was the best decision of my life”

“The girls here,” Bucky whistles, “are absolutely gorgeous. _Bellissimo_ \- thats spanish for beautiful by the way, all over. And the men too”

He rubs his hands together, “I’m going to enjoy this holiday”

“ ‘s not a holiday,” Sam says half heartedly, “its supposed to be my bachelor’s party”

“No doubt no doubt,” Bucky murmers, but he’s already moving away from Sam and towards a girl with rouge lips who’s eyeing him surreptitiously from across the hall.

/

They’re on the beach when Steve sees him - and he swears that his heart arrests in his chest.

He’s brought his laptop with him, ignoring Bucky’s ribbing in favour of placing bids on an advantageous stock - and he looks up just in time to see _him_ pass them by; chasing after what looks like a volleyball.

He’s absolutely gorgeous, lean muscles that ripple with sweat and dressed in a pair of swim shorts that cling to his thighs - and when he bends down, Steve has the strangest urge to bounce a quarter off his ass.

He has gorgeous locks that Steve desperately wants to run his hand through, and a smile as dazzling as the sun.

Steve swears for a second that he’s fallen completely in love - and then Bucky ruins it by whistling.

“Now _that_ is exactly why I came on this godawful trip,” Bucky says lowly, “I would not mind getting lost in those eyes”

Steve feels himself getting angry despite himself, “Back off Bucky - I saw him first”

Bucky pulls down his sunglasses and glares at Steve mockingly, “what are we - kids in middle school? It’s all about speed Stevie boy”

He steps up and brushes his sand all over Steve’s laptop, “watch and learn”

and Steve watches as Bucky waltzes over to the possible love of his life, tapping his shoulder and dazzling him with a smile that Steve can personally attest has made many a men and women drop their trousers instantly in college.

He watches them interact for a couple of seconds before slamming down his laptop and stalking back to the hotel - leaving Sam with a terse “I’m going up to my room”

/

Tony’s looking for his volleyball with little avail when someone taps his shoulder - and he whirls around to meet a man with startling blue eyes and a gorgeous smile/

“Can I help you?” Tony asks and the man holds out his hand, “I’m Bucky”

“Nice to meet you Bucky,” Tony says, before taking a step back, “if you don’t mind - I have a ball that I’m looking for”

Bucky reaches out and grabs his forearm, “So my friend Stevie back there,” he thumbs towards the Adonis on the beach-chair who looks a bit like he wants to murder Bucky, “has a ickle crush on you and my absolute favourite past-time is to egg him on. Would you mind hanging out for a couple of minutes, let me rile him up?”

Tony looks over Bucky’s shoulder - chuckling when Steve meets his eye for a second and then looks back down, “your friend’s sending you death rays with his eyes - you sure its just him thats got a crush on me?”

Bucky’s cheeks heat unexpectedly, and Tony has to admit - its kinda cute.

“It’s a bit complicated,” Bucky says, “but the gist of it is that Steve may bury me right here in Costa Brava if I may a move on another person that he’s got eyes on”

“Well we wouldn’t want that,” Tony says seriously, “you’re far too pretty to be buried six feet under. Besides, I think your friend has been sufficiently annoyed - looks like he’s leaving”

Bucky turns around just as Tony spots his ball behind the trash can, and he bends down to grab his ball.

He looks up just in time to catch Bucky checking out his ass, and inwardly Tony preens.

“Well,” he says, “I better be going - since I got my ball and your Steve is no longer around. It was nice to meet you Bucky”

Bucky smiles, “and it was real nice meeting you doll”

Bucky winks and walks away, and Tony waits until he’s out of eyesight to thumb open his phone and flip through his emails.

_Deep sea diving with Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers - 21st April to 29th April._

The next couple of days were going to be really interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter, steve and tony finally meet - and things between steve and bucky get worse before they get better. 
> 
> /
> 
> edit: [isha](https://rxmanoff.tumblr.com/) made me [this absolutely amazing gifset](https://rxmanoff.tumblr.com/post/190039004020/life-you-only-get-one-of-them-part-2-by) to accompany the fic so go give her some love!! (because how amazing is that omg)
> 
> /
> 
> [tumblr saw it first](https://ad1thi.tumblr.com/post/189865301292/life-only-comes-around-once-chapter-2)  
> 


	3. costa brava: part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve fight (some more) and the boys start their first activity  
> (Steve is still not convinced that this whole trip isn't an elaborate prank on him)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year everyone!! its day 3 of the new decade and ww3 is trending -- but hopefully this means that we've hit rock bottom and things can only go up from here?
> 
> //
> 
> ive changed the name of the fic and upped the chapter count (again - because im super indecisive) but i hope yall enjoy this!!  
> (fyi - the chapter count is just going to keep going to keep changing until i figure out how exactly i want this fic to pan out, so bear with me please)

Bucky generally revelled in being right, usually overloading it over people with a smug smirk that he could never shake off his face.

Now however - looking as another frown added itself to Sam’s already wrinkled face because Steve had made them stop yet again so he could take _“a very important call James - can you just pull over please” -_ now he wasn’t really happy to be right.

He’d only been half joking when he’d said that Steve was going to be a workaholic during the trip, but a drive that was supposed to only be half an hour’s turned into a 3 hour affair - and Sam really shouldn’t be this stressed out during his bachelor trip.

So when Sam says, “I wish someone would just throw your phone out the window,” Bucky doesn’t think - he grabs Steve’s phone mid conversation and lobs it out of the window.

There’s terse silence in the car, for all of 10 seconds before Sam pulls over and Steve starts yelling.

“What the fuck? What the FUCK? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” Bucky’s half certain that cupping his ear to protect them from Steve’s growing decibels isn’t going to help the situation, so he keeps them by his side, “what the actual fuck is wrong with you?”

Bucky shrugs, “It’s Sam’s bachelor trip. What he says goes. He wanted the phone out the window so I -” he mimics throwing the phone out, which is obviously the wrong thing to do because Steve lunges for his neck and its only a calculated hand on the car-door and a tumble onto the road that saves him.

“I get that your life is very happy go lucky,” Steve mimes quotations, “but some of us work for a living. That was a call to the Japanese Prime Minister chutiya - and you fucking threw my phone out of the window”

Steve points towards the bushes, “go get my phone”

Bucky cocks his head, “come again?”

Steve shakes his outstretched hand, “you threw it in the fucking bushes - now go get my fucking phone?”

“Are you - what - Sam?” Bucky fumbles for words, “go get your phone, are you crazy?”

Steve sits down on the road, legs crossed over one another, “I’m not moving until you get my phone. Go get my phone Barnes”

Bucky looks at Sam meaningfully, “are you going to do anything about this?”

Sam sends a prayer up to whatever deity is overlooking his bachelor trip, pinching the skin between his eyes, “Steve get off the damn road man, Bucky will buy you a new phone. Bucky I uh -” he sighs, “I have no words man. Who throws someone’s phone?”

“Look guys this is my bachelor party, I get that you have this very amazing lifelong rivalry - but you love me right? You care about me right?” he looks at them until they both grumble and nod, “okay good. So can you put aside your differences and just give me a good bachelor party? Please?”

Steve sighs and pushes himself off the ground, wiping the pieces of tarmac off his chinos, “Course we can buddy,” he swings his arm around Sam and pulls him in - locking eyes with Bucky over his head, “but you still owe me a phone”

/

“So what exactly are we doing here?” Steve asks, desperate for a way to cut through the tension that’s blown up and settled itself in the car like another passenger.

Sam reverses and steps out, pointing to the ocean with a flourish, “my dudes - we’re going deep sea diving”

Instantly, Steve’s face curls up like he’s had something sour, “is this trip designed to torture me? First he throws away my phone and now deep sea diving - Wilson you know I don’t do well in water, what if I drown?”

Sam opens his mouth to reply, but the actual response comes from behind them, “well if you drown then I won’t be doing my job very well”

The three whirl around at once, to face a smiling Tony. 

“Hi,” Tony says, extending his hand, “I’m Tony Stark - your instructor. I’ve already met Bucky, and you must be Steve,” he smoothly steps between them to address Sam, “which must make you the groom of the hour”

Sam mock salutes, “Sam Wilson at your service. We spoke on the phone?”

Tony nods to a small hut behind him, “wetsuits are in there - everybody go get changed and I’ll meet you out here in five”

Sam and Bucky take off by some mutual unspoken decision to race, but Steve stays rooted in his spot - startling when he feels someone touch his bicep

“Hey,” Tony says softly, “nothing’s going to happen to you okay? I promise.”

“I just met you,” Steve says wryly, but he flashes Tony a grateful smile and goes to get his wetsuit.

Bucky and Sam splash into the water with the maturity of five year olds, but they also dutifully look the other way when Tony extends his hand and helps Steve into the shallow water - so he can maybe forgive them.

“Okay,” Tony says when they’re all in the water, “for today - I just want everyone to get used to the water. Splash around a bit, get your hair wet - make yourself feel comfortable. I want you to try and work through any nerves that any of you may have, get through any questions that have been weighing down on you - and then we’ll break for food. After, I’m going to teach you how to talk underwater”

Tony winks at Steve, and it momentarily distracts him, just long enough for Tony to bend down and splash water in his face.

Bucky takes this as his cue to swipe a leg under Sam’s and make him fall down on his back - and then its every man for himself.

Steve has no time to dwell on his fear, because he’s too busy trying to enact revenge - but then Tony looks over at him with a soft smile, and Steve looks track of his mind a little bit.

He finds it when Sam roars up from underneath the water and gets his entire left side wet, but he’s too busy laughing to be freaking out about anything.

Later, when they break for food and Tony nudges him good-naturedly before grabbing a sandwich and sitting down, he wonders if that was Tony’s plan all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: bucky buys steve a new phone - steve faces his fear of water, and it might just give him the courage to do something else he's a bit scared to do
> 
> //
> 
> [tumblr saw it first](https://ad1thi.tumblr.com/post/190040416622/life-you-only-get-one-of-them-chapter-3)  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> [my ig](https://www.instagram.com/desi_tonystark/)   
> 


End file.
